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Beer Terminology
ABV '– Alcohol by volume. This is a measurement of the percent of alcohol present in a volume of liquid. To obtain this number take the original gravity and subtract the final gravity then multiply the answer by 131.25. One pound of fermentable sugar is approximately equal to 1% ABV in a 5 gallon batch. ABV = ABW x 1.25. '''ABW '– Alcohol by weight. This is a measurement of the percent of alcohol present in a volume of liquid. The percent is the number of grams of alcohol in 100 centiliters (e.g. 5%ABW equals 5 grams of alcohol/100 cl) – ABW = ABV x .80 'Acetaldehyde '– A by-product of fermentation. It is recognized by an aroma of green apple. 'Adjunct '– An unmalted fermentable ingredient, like honey or sugar. It is used to increase the alcohol or add to the flavor. Adjunct grains, like corn or rice, can be added to lighten the flavor of the beer. 'Ale '– Ales are beers made with top fermenting yeast. They typically are fermented between 68-75°F. Ales absorb some of the byproducts from the fermentation which cause can a fruity or estery nose or flavor. 'Alpha Acid '– These come from the soft resin of the hop flower. Responsible for bitterness in beer. 'Aroma Hops '– Hops added at the end of the boil that add to the aroma of the beer. '''Astringency – A dry, puckering sensation, like sucking on a teabag. Like tannins in a wine too young to be consumed. Attenuation '– The percent of sugars consumed by yeast during fermentation. '''Barleywine '– A high alcohol, quite malty, English style beer. Alcohol levels are usually between 8.5% and 12% ABV. 'Biere de garde '– A French beer brewed in the region of the border with Belgium. A richer, more malt-forward version of a Saison, with less spice and tartness. 'Bittering Hops '– Hops added to the boil with 45 – 60 minutes left. These are responsible for the bitterness of a beer. 'Bock '– A very strong lager traditionally brewed in winter to celebrate the coming spring. Full-bodied, malty, well-hopped. 'Body '– The feel of thickness of a liquid in the mouth. 'Bottle Conditioning '– Beer bottled without removing the yeast or having been pasteurized. Yeast and sediment are present in the bottle. Beer packaged this way can grow more complex over time. 'Brew Kettle '– The vessel that the boil takes place in. 'Candi sugar '– Candi sugar is made by superheating and then cooling a highly concentrated sugar solution. Pale candi syrup is much darker than sucrose or invert sugar syrup. Belgian brewers prefer to use candi sugar, in either solid or syrup form, because it contributes to good head retention in a high-gravity, lightly hopped beer. 'Caramel malt '– A sweet, coppery malt which imparts both color and flavor to beer. Gives a golden color and a nutlike flavor to beer. Used frequently in darker ales 'Cask Conditioning '– After ale has gone through primary fermentation, then run through a filter. It is transferred into a cask where more yeast is added and a secondary fermentation takes place. A fining material is added to settle out the yeast. 'Centrifugation '– A clarification method using centrifugal force to strain and clarify the wort during its cooling stage and the finished beer prior to racking. 'Chalice '– These are typically for Belgian abbey and trappist style beer. They can have a look of royalty about them. They can be more “V” shaped with either straight or an inward curving top, sometimes rimmed with a precious metal. The stem is thick and the length is usually rather short. 'Chill Haze '– A cloudiness that appears in beer when it gets cold. It is a result of proteins and polyphenols combining as a result of hydrogen bonding. The haze disappears as the beer warms up. 'Chocolate malt '– Malted barley that has been roasted to a deep brown color. It gives a nutty, toasted flavor to beers as well as deep reddish brown color. 'Cold filter '– As an alternative to pasteurizing, beer can be passed through a filter fine enough to remove the suspended yeast and so stop fermentation. Preserving more beer flavor than pasteurization, cold-filtered beers are often incorrectly called “draught”. 'Crystal malt '– When fresh malt is carefully dried at warm temperatures, some of the starches are converted to sugars which crystallize within the grains. When these crystal malts are used in brewing, they add sweetness, body and a reddish gold color to the beer. 'Diacetyl '– A natural byproduct of yeast. It can have the flavors/aromas of butter or butterscotch. 'DMS '– Dimethyl Sulfide. – A sulfur compound that can be a desired flavor in lagers, but not in ales. DMS can be created by bacterial infection, which has the smell of cooked cabbage. DMS is also created during the boil and is 'Dry Hopping '– Adding hops after the boil or even in the cask to increase hop aroma and flavor. This is most often seen in various types of ales, but not in lagers. 'Dunkle '– This is a term used mainly in describing German wheat beer. It means dark – in contrast to Helle or pale. 'Estery '– Aroma or flavor or fruit or flowers in beer. This can be caused by certain yeast strains or higher temperature fermentation. 'Fining '– Materials added to beer during secondary fermentation to help settle out the yeast and other particulates. These materials can be isinglass, gelatin, Irish moss, and others. 'Finishing Hops '– Hops added near the end or after the boil to add aroma and flavor. They do not tend to add bitterness. 'Flute '– Typically seen with champagne. Beer flutes have shorter stems than champagne flutes. The mouth has a smaller diameter than the mid section to hold in carbonation. 'Goblet '– Goblets can resemble a fishbowl. Typically they have a round bowl and come in various sizes. They are somewhat like a brandy or cognac snifter. Use these for high alcohol sipping beers. 'Grist '– A term for milled grain(s). 'Gueuze '– A blend of aged and young lambic ale. 'Heat Exchanger '– A device to rapidly cool wort. Usually copper tubing that has cold water running through it. Sometimes 2 tubes, one inside the other, with wort going through one and cold water going through the other. 'Hefe '– German word for yeast. 'Helle '– This is a term used mainly in describing German wheat beer. It means pale – in contrast to Dunkle or dark. 'Hops '– Hops come from the Humulis Lupulus plant or vine. It is the female flower that is used in brewing. They come in several forms, whole, pellet and plug. Hops are what makes beer bitter. There are volumes written on hops, if you are interested, there is plen 'IBU '– International Bitterness Unit. It is a number that denotes the bitterness of the beer. The higher the IBU the more bitter the beer. 'Imperial '– 1A beer which is stronger than the typical base style. I have most often seen it described as 20 gravity points higher than the BJCP style guidelines. 'IPA '– India Pale Ale. A strong, hoppy Pale ale. The style originated in Britain in the 19th century, and had a high alcohol content and hopping rate, allowing it to survive the long sea voyage to India. 'Lager '– Beer made with bottom fermenting yeast. Lager is fermented at lower temperatures and usually takes longer to ferment than ales. Since the fermentation is at low temperatures, the yeast byproducts are reduced and a cleaner more crisp beer is the result. 'Lagering '– The process of aging beer at low temperatures, usually under 50°F. This process takes anywhere from a weeks to months. 'Lambic '– A traditionally Belgian brew that is typically sour. It can be fruit-flavored (most commonly cherry, but also apple, peach, cassis, raspberry, blackberry) and fermented with wild yeast and several types of bacteria. 'Lauter '– To drain the wort to the mash tun. 'Lauter Tun '– A vessel where mash settles and grains are strained out of the sweet wort. 'Light Struck '– The result of exposure of beer to light and heat. It is recognizable by a skunky smell. 'Lupulin '– A yellow resinous powder found on the female hop cone that contains the bittering principle used in making beer. 'Malt '– Grain that has been malted. Or: The malting process consists of wetting the grain and allowing it to germinate. During the germination, some of the starches in the grain get converted to sugars while others become simple soluble starches and other enzymes. The grain is then dried and tumbled to knock the beginnings of roots off. The grain is then kilned to dry it thoroughly and carmelize some of the sugars like in crystal malt or blacken it like a black patent malt. 'Malt Liquor '– A legal term in the U.S. for fermented, non-distilled grain-based beverages containing no hops with alcohol that is higher than normal – or around 7-8%. 'Mash '– Release of sugars from grains into water. Or: The mixture resulting from mashing. 'Mead '– A beverage made from fermented honey. 'Noble Hops '– Hallertauer Mittelfruh, Tettnang, Spalter, and Czech Saaz are the 4 main noble hops. There are others that can be considered noble, but they were bred from noble hops. These are Perle, Crystal, Mt. Hood, Liberty, and Ultra. 'Pasteurization '– Heating food or liquid to high temperatures to kill bacteria and other microorganisms. This also kills yeast. Developed by Louis Pasteur (1822-1895). 'Phenolic '– A taste or aroma caused by volatile phenol compounds which vary from clove and banana at the low end to spicy or smoky flavors or even medicinal or band-aid like flavors in the extreme. '''Pilsner '''or Pils '– A beer style. Typically crisp and refreshing, with a light to medium body and a clear, light to deep gold appearance. '''Pint glass '– Probably the most common beer glass. Straight, thick sides at a slight angle making the mouth of the glass larger than the base, typically holds 16 oz. You may also come across an Imperial Pint glass. These hold 20 oz. have somewhat thinner sides and a bulge about 3/4 of the way up the glass. 'Pitching '– Pitching yeast is basically adding yeast to wort. This is done around 70°F. Pitching when the wort is too warm or too cold will kill the yeast. 'Priming '– Addition of sugar to promote a secondary fermentation. 'Racking '– Transferring the wort into another container. Beer is racked from the primary fermenter to the secondary fermenter. 'Real Ale '– See cask conditioning 'Reinheitsgebot '– The German Purity Law of 1516 that states the only 4 ingredients that can be included in beer are water, malted barley, yeast and hops. 'Saccharomyces carlsbergensis '– Lager or bottom fermenting yeast. 'Saccharomyces cerevisiae '– Ale or top fermenting yeast. 'Saccharomyces uvarum '– Lager or bottom fermenting yeast. Also known as Saccharomyces carlsbergensis. 'Scotch Ale '– A top-fermented beer of Scottish origin. Traditionally strong, very dark, thick and creamy. 'Secondary Fermentation '– After primary fermentation, which can be very active the beer is “racked” into another vessel for secondary fermentation. This helps remove some of the expired yeast which may give off negative flavors if left in. 'Steam Beer '– A beer produced by hybrid fermentation using bottom yeast fermented at top yeast temperatures. Fermentation is carried out in long shallow vessels called clarifiers, followed by warm conditioning and krausening. The style is indigenous to America and was first produced in California at the end of the 19th century, during the Gold Rush. 'Trappist '– A beer brewed within a Trappist monastery, under the control and responsibility of the monastic community. Only 11 breweries (5 in Belgium, 2 in Holland, one each in Austria, Italy and the U.S.) can use the appellation “Trappist.” 'Tulip glass '– The tulip glass looks somewhat like a tulip – go figure. It can have a stemmed base and roundish bowl, which thins out about 1/2 way up the glass then flares out slightly. It can also be similar in style to a pint glass, but has the tulip flare. Holds 16 oz. 'Witbier '– “White” beer. It is a cloudy wheat beer, spiced with corriander and orange peel. 'Wort '– Wort is beer before it becomes beer. After you boil the ingredients together that mixture is called wort. 'Wort Chiller '– A device to rapidly cool wort. Usually copper tubing that has cold water running through it. Sometimes 2 tubes, one inside the other, with wort going through one and cold water going through the other. Also called a heat exchanger. 'Yeast '– Yeast is what makes the alcohol in beer. Yeast eats the sugars in the wort and gives of alcohol and carbon dioxide. 'Zymurgy '– The branch of chemistry dealing with fermentation.